Sommaire pour Issue 122 de VWt

Hello and welcome to issue 122 of VWt magazine. As I write this in my office on deadline day, it’s a very humid 39°C - 102°F in old money – so the heat is very much on! As is the fan that I remembered to buy in advance of the heat wave this year.... I must be getting organised in my old age. And, that’s not the only thing hotting up right now as it seems like the van scene is on fire. Many said it couldn’t last, that the Transporter post-Covid bubble would soon burst and go back to normal, but to be honest I am not really seeing it. Sure, it seems van prices have dipped a bit on the secondhand market as many van buyers sell up…

HOT VANS When building campers for a living is your thing, the hardest part of the game is keeping one step ahead of the competition. Carving a niche would be an incredibly sensible thing to do, and that’s pretty much what Darren DuRose of DCD Transporters in Suffolk has done. Rather than follow a basic A, B, C option package, each camper built by DCD is pretty much unique and crafted to an individual customer’s own requirements. His latest creation, this sleek 2018 medium wheelbase Crafter, is straight from the top of his own, motorsport infused head. It’s not so much thinking outside the box, rather taking the same thinking from the little box and transposing it to the bigger box. “It’s an idea I’ve been toying with on and…

SEND US YOURS: Ever dreamed about seeing your van appear in the pages of VWt? Make that dream a reality! Simply e-mail a selection of good quality high-res images of your van to glenn.rowswell@kelsey.co.uk along with a full spec list and add the subject title ‘Your Vans’. But please remember, if you didn’t take the photos, you MUST have permission from the photographer to use the images in the magazine, and all images should be free from watermarks, by submitting an image you assume responsibility for any copyright infringement. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s see those project builds! RICHARD SUTTON’S 2013 T5.1, BURY ST EDMUNDS Hello VWt, here’s a little write up of my van. I got into the VW scene after crashing my Ford Transit in 2011…

HOT VANS We all know Volkswagens are more than just a car or a van. Once they get under your skin there’s no escaping. Even if you take a break for a while, something somewhere will pull you back in. Scot Player was a died-in-the-wool BMW man. He even had his E30 featured in Performance BMW magazine. He’s 44 now and has had the E30 since he was 18-years-old. As you can imagine, it isn’t going anywhere soon but Scot’s social calendar doesn’t have that much room left for BMW since he bought this 2013 T5.1 six years ago. “I actually got it just to carry my dogs,” he says. “You could say things got out of hand!” In terms of understatement of the year award, we have a strong…

HOT VANS If you recognise this van from its previous feature two years ago then the only explanation is, you know the owner or possibly that you have a photographic memory for number plates and should seek help immediately. This is a rebirth like no other, yet somehow has stayed true to the original ethos of a budget build. Ok, the wheels have been given a free pass in that statement, but everyone is allowed an extravagance every once in a while. Owner, Sam Huggins (36) is a carpenter by trade and got himself this 2006 T5 to act as a work van and something for the family. It replaced a low mileage silver T5 that was slammed on coilovers. “My wife, Kelly, was not a fan of the way…

There was a time when the VW scene was full of people in their teens and twenties – back in the ‘80s and ‘90s when VWs could be picked up for a pittance and the new wave VW scene was in its heyday. These days though, any Volkswagen seems to hold its value especially well in comparison to other brands, so it’s more common to find that the typical owner is over 30, with a lot of those teenage ‘new wave’ guys and girls still with the scene in their fourties and fifties, like me. I came to the VW scene as a Beetle and Bus crazy kid and started buying car magazines at age 11. By the time I was 16 I had my first Beetle and my first…

Nestled between two headlands on the North Wales coast, Llandudno is the country’s largest seaside resort. Having originated as a mining settlement with its roots dating back to the Bronze Age, it flourished in the 19th century and now offers a coastal retreat suitable for all the family, with its wide Victorian promenade and period architecture. A Grade II-listed pier, built in 1878, protrudes blissfully out into the sea, while a ride on the historic Great Orme Tramway takes visitors to the top of a striking headland, providing spectacular views of the town and the glorious surrounding countryside. From relaxing on the sands of the curved two-mile bay, to exploring the Alice in Wonderland Trail, featuring character sculptures from Lewis Carroll’s renowned novel, Llandudno offers a true taste of the…

AUGUST 5th – 7th DUBS SOUTH CAMPOUT Limekiln Lane, Dean, Southampton, SO32 1FY www.dubssouthcampout.co.uk 7th BEACH DUBBIN’ Southsea Common, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire www.beachdubbin.co.uk 12th – 14th VW FESTIVAL Harewood House, Harewood, Leeds LS17 9LG www.vwfestival.co.uk 13 - 14th VWT CHILL Beaulieu, New Forest, Hampshire, SO42 7ZN www.beaulieu.co.uk 19th – 21st VOLKSFEST WALES Watton Show Fields, The Watton, Brecon, LD3 7PL www.volksfest.wales 19th – 21st WESTERN MOTORHOME & CAMPERVAN SHOW Three Counties Showground, Malvern, WR13 6NW www.outandaboutlive.co.uk 26th – 28th CAMPER CALLING Ragley Hall, Alcester, Warwickshire, B49 5NJ www.campercalling.com SEPTEMBER 1st – 4th BULLI SUMMER FESTIVAL Ausesee, Wesel, Germany www.bullisummerfestival.de 2nd – 4th EDITION 38 Overstone Park, Northampton, NN6 0AB www.edition38.com 2nd – 4th VW ACTION Santa Pod Raceway, Wellingborough, Northants, NN29 7XA www.vwaction.co.uk 9th – 11th BUSFEST Three Counties Showground,…

WHOPPERS WALK TALL A small group of VW Transporter enthusiasts have raised over £11,000 for the Macmillan Charity. VW Whoppers, a group of friends from the North East raised the money by completing the Lake District Mighty Hike. The Mighty Hike is a 26.2 mile marathon trail walk around Ullswater taking in breath-taking views of the lake and surrounding hills. Chris O’Connor told us: “As a group we love getting together and camping/walking around the UK. We lovingly started calling each other Whoppers and the name stuck. Last year Kirsty Maklam (bib no 1225) told us she was going to do the Lake District Mighty Hike for Macmillan Cancer Support in memory of her mum who sadly lost her battle with cancer. As soon as we heard this, we all…

AUTO FINESSE CREEPER SEAT Ever finished giving the van the old wax on wax off routine, sat down and within minutes thought damn, why do I feel like I’ve pulled muscles I didn’t know I have? Well, here’s a great invention, one that will be filed under the ‘why didn’t I think of that’ section that will save you aches, pains and help your van look better than ever! Say hello to the awesome Auto Finesse Creeper seat, a detailing perch that is comfortable, practical and is the ultimate tool for combatting a bad back. Cleverly engineered by those in the know to relieve pressure on the lower back and knees when polishing, wheel cleaning or any other low altitude activities. This super-tough work seat is constructed with a wide,…

This was a landmark show for me. Since the COVID lockdown kicked in a couple of years ago this was due to be the first VW show that I’d attended in the UK since Ultimate Dubs 2020, making this a really significant day out in the sunshine pour moi. Seemingly, I wasn’t alone. Man, it was so good to get back out there again and see some familiar faces out and about once again. As the morning dawned bright and unseasonably warm for the time of year, plenty of other VW enthusiasts descended upon Sywell Aerodrome to share the collective good vibes and enthusiasm that both the turnout and the temperature hinted at. No one was to leave disappointed. With the all-in-one, inclusive show field filling up as soon as…

I’ve always loved the look of the products OVANO make, the rear storage systems look awesome and are super functional. Unfortunately, for me it doesn’t quite work with my ‘work van’, so I had to go for something custom made in the back of the van - more on that soon. But, I’ve always kept a close eye on other products they’ve been developing. A little while ago they started to offer a tabletop for the B-Pillar of a Transporter, made from the same 18mm black hex phenolic coated birch ply - which is used in their storage systems. If you have been a reader for a while, you may remember that I used to have a table bracket on the B-Pillar of the van, but it wasn’t all that…